Lying in bed, after an intense hour and a half of sex, Asahi and Trish cuddled, with satisfied smiles on their faces.

She caressed his chest. “How are you feeling about meeting my parents?”

He caressed her arm, that rested on his chest. “The raw feeling is that I don’t want to, probably because I don’t want to interact with a family, which is in a sense a foreign concept to me, one that I probably dread facing deep down. The intellectual side of me, tells me that I need to, precisely because of those feelings.”

She smiled. “I really like how self-aware and introspective you can be at times, but this one might be a new height.”

He gently held her hand and kissed it. “Recently, I started meditating. It’s incredible for introspection. It also made me see how hard it’s gonna be for me to actually get rid of all of my current issues. However, it helps me to deal with them on a daily basis. It does make me feel better, and helps me keep my calm while meeting those powerful people.”

She kissed his cheek. “I’m really happy for you. I bet that it really helped with your magic training as well. How is that going?”

He sighed, with an awkward smile. “The mana refining part went incredibly well. Today though, I read the basic manual for actual spellcasting while I worked on my game dev projects, and holy shit. It’s so god damn complicated.” He then made his bracelet appear on his arm. “Look at this runic cipher. Now, imagine that I need to form an array with multiple of these within my mana in order to cast a spell. There is also basic metamagic, which involves a form of grammar, dozens of conditions, and a lot more annoyances to take into account.”

Her eyes sparkled. “Are you saying that you write your spells within your mana, and the better writer you are, the more effective your spells become?”

He chuckled. “Ah, of course you’d be interested. What if I told you that you’ll be able to do it too in the future?”

She slapped his chest multiple times in excitement. “Are you serious?”

He nodded. “I mean, it’ll probably take at least a couple of years for me to get the machine, but yeah. And I’ll be getting it either way, so don’t worry about the cost.”

She smiled brightly. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Soon, he headed to the refinement chamber, while Trish stayed in bed to sleep.

The System suggested two spells for him to practice, Lightning and Sleep.

Every single pure spell, was quite basic. For an example, Lightning, was just shooting a streak of lightning at the target, and Sleep was inducing sleepiness on a target.

That was where metamagic came in. With the placement of specific runes and cipher compositions, you could turn it into an area effect, make it chain between targets, empower it, and dozens of other effects. Ant that was just the basic metamagic.

Of course, even with his filthy boost stacking, it was excruciatingly complicated. There were two main reasons for that method being the best, versatility and mana utilization efficiency. No other method could come even close to bring as much power from the tiniest amount of mana.

Asahi was in disadvantage in regards to the amount of mana in his body, due to not being a learned thing, but a developed one. Refining it was much faster for him than increasing its amount, so the best thing he could do would be extract the maximum amount of power that he possibly could from his mana. Hence, that method of spellcasting.

During that session, he bought a training target from the store, which was a floating sphere that moved around. When hit by the lightning, the target would glow, with the brightness representing how effective it was. When affected by the sleepiness effect, its movements would slow down depending on how strong the spell was.

Although he managed to cast the spells, his casting speed was simply not viable for combat, with him taking almost five seconds to shoot lightning and almost nine for the sleep, and that was with thm in their basic forms.

He wasn’t discouraged though, because the feeling of accomplishment was incredible, due to how complex the process was.

 

Afternoon, inside his therapist’s office.

She spoke as he sat down. “How was your week Kinoshita-kun?”

He smiled. “It was quite good. I’m doing much better than I expected, in all areas. Tonight, I’ll be meeting Trish’s parents for the first time, and although I’m a bit anxious about it, I think I’ll be fine.”

“And what specifically are you anxious about?”

“This is my first time being put in a situation where I have to interact with a family like that. As you know by now, family is to me almost like quantum physics is to the average person. They might have heard the name, and some can even quote a blurb about the concept, but if you ask them to properly explain how it works, it all falls apart.”

She smiled, writing on her notebook. “And what do you want that dinner to be?”

He displayed a pensive expression. “Just having a regular conversation, probably. They already know about my past, so there is no awkwardness to be had there.”

She nodded. “And what are you afraid of?”

“That they antagonize me somehow, putting Trish into an incredibly awkward position.”

She wrote on her notebook. “What would you do if they did?”

“I’d walk out of there without saying anything, because I don’t wanna hurt Trish more than that probably already would.”

She smiled. “I’m looking forward to hearing about how it went on our next session. Is there anything else about your week that you would like to talk about?”

“Nope, that’s it.”

She nodded. “Then, let’s go back to the year you spent going middle school.”

With that, the session continued.

 

Trish’s apartment, 7pm.

Asahi appeared in her living room, wearing jeans, a t-shirt and a light jacket.

Trish was waiting for him, wearing her usual jeans, tank top and leather jacket, but with her hair loose.

She gently embraced him. “Still anxious?”

He embraced her. “Only a bit, but I feel better now.”

After loosening the hug, she gave him a light kiss. “Good. Shall we go then?”

He smiled. “Yup.”

With that, they left the building in her armored SUV.

The car ride lasted for a little over fifteen minutes, leading them to a suburban area, stopping in front of a walled property, with a two-story house inside.

Although the house itself was large, and looked quite expensive, the property itself wasn’t huge by any stretch of the imagination.

By looking from the outside, you could immediately imagine the size of the backyard, which would probably have a medium-sized high-end pool.

It wasn’t all that different from most houses on that street in terms of wealth.

There was a large gate and a door. The door had a card reader, in front of which Trish waved a white card with a golden symbol, belonging to a security company.

She smiled, seeing Asahi’s curiosity clearly displayed on his face. “My dad had a high salary in the military, and got a fat severance check as well. My mom also had a high salary as lead analyst in a research institute. That’s why they live in such a fancy house.”

Asahi nodded in acknowledgement.

She then guided him inside the property. There was a garage with its door closed, and beautiful plants spread around the property.

She waved the card again to open the door to the house, and gestured for Asahi to enter, and as soon as he did, an incredible scent invaded his nostrils. It was sukiyaki, one of his favorite dishes.

The foyer went directly into the living room, which was very tastefully furnished with retro modern furniture.

They heard light footsteps.

A 1.62m-tall woman with long silky hair was entering the living room. She was wearing a casual dress that complemented her slender body, and had a pretty face with sharp features. She seemed to be in her early thirties.

She spoke with a soft voice, smiling. “You must be Asahi-kun, it is so nice to finally meet you.”

He gave her a small bow. “Likewise, Maruyama-san.”

She walked towards them. “Nonsense, you can call me Ayako.”

Trish shrugged. “Just give up and do what she tells you.”

Asahi smiled. “Okay.”

Ayako gave Trish a warm hug, then gently grabbed Asahi’s arm, visibly excited by the fact that Trish had brought a friend home. “Come on, let’s get you settled so I can start the interrogation. I mean, the conversation.”

Asahi and Trish chuckled.

She led them to a small dining room, which had a round table with six seats, already set for four people, with a clear view of the high-end kitchen.

From the kitchen came a 1.94m-tall, handsome black man who seemed to be in his mid-thirties. He was completely bald, and wore a tank top and shorts, displaying his extremely fit body.

He smiled as he spoke in flawless Japanese, with a deep and silky-smooth voice, extending his hand for a hand-shake.  “Asahi-kun, I’m Marcus, nice to meet you. Thank you for taking care of Trish.”

Asahi shook his hand, smiling. “Likewise, but I’m afraid you got it backwards, she’s the one taking care of me most of the time.”

Marcus then gave Trish a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Ayako gently pulled Asahi’s arm, guiding him to the table. “Let’s sit down and talk. Do you want something to drink?”

“No, I’m okay.”

The three of them sat down at the table while Marcus took care of dinner.

With a calm expression, Ayako spoke. “I would like to start by telling you that we have no intention of prying into your dealings with the TS, nor the Consortium. The same goes for whomever is backing you. It is true that those things are somewhat worrisome to us. However, the main reason for us to invite you here, is because Trish never got this close to someone besides us.  We wanted to see for ourselves if the boy she spoke of was indeed a good person.”

He nodded. “That’s very reasonable, and thank you in advance for not prying into my secrets.”

Ayako smiled. “You are welcome. Trish told me that you are majoring in Game Development, you must be absurdly busy with all that competition business.”

“I am, but I really like it. We’re even setting up an office alongside the apartment I live in, in order to take it as seriously as we can.”

Ayako’s eyes slightly widened. “That is quite a big step for a competition. You must be really interested in the prize.”

He shook his head. “I personally don’t care all that much about the prize. For me, it’s more about making sure that my friends win. All four of them really want it.”

Ayako smiled brightly. “That is quite nice of you. And how is the dating life going in university?”

Trish chortled. “Very subtle mom.”

Asahi smiled. “I don’t really want a conventional relationship anytime soon, so I don’t really go on dates as other people do. Going out to lunch with friends is the closest thing to it.”

Ayako chuckled. “I said the same thing when I was attending university, but now I am married and have a daughter. Of course, I am not saying that the same applies to you, I just find it humorous.”

Asahi nodded. “Oh, I get it. How did you and your husband meet?”

Ayako displayed a nostalgic smile. “Wow, it has been twenty-three years already. The day was really nice, and we had the afternoon off at work, so a few friends and I went to a park to have a picnic. While we were enjoying our meal, we saw him wandering around, like he was looking for something. He then approached us, and asked for directions to a small shop, that didn’t show on the map in his phone. While my friend was explaining to him how to get there, we looked at each other.”

Marcus came in, carrying a large pot with sukiyaki in it. “As soon as I looked into her eyes, I started to completely tune out whatever her friend was saying, and the rest of the world for that matter.”

Trish got up, and went to the kitchen to get the side dishes as Marcus put the pot on the table.

Ayako giggled. “I sort of forgot what I was doing as well. He then asked me if he could trouble me to showing him where the shop was, and that he would treat me to a nice meal to make up for it. Despite how good his Japanese was, he was only in the country for a vacation, so I thought that it could at least be a nice change of pace for me. The next day, he was having breakfast at my place, and four months later, he was stationed in Japan at his request, so we could live together.”

Marcus gave Ayako a light kiss, then sat down. “I was hooked from day one, there was no looking back for me. Molly, my sister, I believe you met her already, came to Japan as soon as I requested the transfer, to meet Ayako. Half an hour after meeting Ayako, Molly was already mentally vowing to protect her forever. That’s how well they hit it off.”

Trish came with a large tray filled side dishes, speaking as she laid them on the table, before going back to the kitchen. “Aunt Molly wanted to come too, but she is in Germany right now. She has been bugging me to properly introduce you to her since that day in the cabin.”

Asahi smiled. “I don’t mind meeting her.”

Marcus chortled. “Careful, or you might summon her by saying that.”

Ayako lightly slapped Marcus’ arm. “Stop it, she is not that nosy.”

Marcus smiled. “I know. Asahi-kun, before we start eating and enjoy the rest of the evening. I’d like to ask you a serious question. Is that okay with you?”

Asahi nodded. “Sure.”

“As you probably know, the military side of the TS have their eyes on you. Although I’ve been retired for over eighteen years, I still know what’s going on. For now, there’s nothing to really worry about when it comes to them, but it won’t stay like this forever. What I want to know, is if you’re preparing yourself properly to deal with that when the time comes. More importantly, are you preparing yourself to shield Trish if she needs it? Our daughter is an intelligent and independent adult, and free to make her own choices, but we’re still her parents, so we do worry about her. In our eyes, her safety from this point on, it is partially your responsibility. But please, don’t misunderstand us, we’re not blaming you for anything, but with power comes at least a modicum of responsibility.”

Asahi displayed a pensive expression, as Trish laid a jar of juice and a jar of water on the table, before he spoke with a determined tone. “I agree with you that I need to at least take partial responsibility for that. Not only for Trish, but also for my other friends, especially the non-powered ones. I have been training diligently, and providing the best environment and means that I can at the moment for Trish to get stronger. I also have other plans in place for the future, in case things start to go south. This is the thing that worries me the most, so yeah, I’m doing my best to keep everyone safe.”

As he spoke, Marcus looked at him with great intensity, before relaxing and displaying a relieved smile. “That’s good.”

Ayako nodded. “We know that you are a kid that hit a jackpot, and a well deserved one at that. We also know that you just want to live your life in peace, without worrying about all that powered people nonsense. As long as you keep doing what you just told us, we will not pry into your secrets.”

Asahi smiled as Trish, who was sitting next to him, caressed his thigh. “Thank you.”

The rest of the dinner went quite well, with Marcus and Ayako teasing Trish once in a while.

After dinner, they drank a cup of coffee as they talked some more about Asahi’s classes and daily life.

He then left with Trish.

 

She spoke as she drove the car. “How are you feeling after meeting them?”

Asahi smiled. “Better. The warmth between your interactions with them, how much they worry about you. I know that I have people that worry about me and care for me, a lot, and I’m incredibly grateful for that, but part of me still wished that I had that growing up.”

She smiled. “I wish that you had that growing up too.”

He caressed her thigh. “I’m fine though. You, Fumiko and Mayumi already gave me more affection than some people had in their lifetimes.”

Her smile brightened, and a tinge of red spread across her cheeks. “And we will keep doing it.”

Asahi was starting to notice something. Although he was still struggling with how fast things changed, with each day he cared less and less about how bad his life used to be.

In the beginning, when he had just moved in with Mayumi, he often thought about his past.

With each day, especially in the prior weeks, those thoughts were shifting more and more towards protecting what his life had become.

It was a funny thing to him, how his anxiety towards the future didn’t diminish at all, but it still changed tremendously. Instead of coming from dreading things not getting better, it came from how great they were.